A/N: Wow. I am shocked that people found the last chapter not too boring. It's...hm, amusing, really. Maybe the chapter that I do like will be the ones that everyone hates? Lol. ScruffyWes: Nope, not Dawn! Not yet, at least. I'm still contemplating whether she should make an appearance or not. We'll see! GoddessEris: Lol! I was rather fond of the idea of Lucius having a secret closet full of shocking colors. –grins- Has every Buffy been to visit the HP-verse? I've seen many people but not quite everyone. Ah well. Let's see how my version goes. ChocolateKitten: Thanks for the review! Glad you didn't find the last chapter unbearable! Teri: Thanks for the review! I'm also excited about Tara and Xan seeing each other again! Lol. In my mind it'll be fun. Not yet, though. Russle: -blushes furiously- Thanks for the nice words! Don't worry; I think I can persuade Draco to be a bit nicer to his older sis. –grin- Destiny's Dragon: Glad you liked it! Faith76: Thanks for the review, and I'm glad you enjoy the fic! Leevee of Team Socket: Nope, not from Angel! I hope you like the surprise guests! IncepteDragonas: Tell you a secret- I'm actually working on a Willow as a Weasley fanfic, but I'm not planning on really putting any more characters from Buffy in here. You'll understand later on. Charmed-angel4: Lol. That...[in my mind] is going to be fun. Holy Trinity: You're right! You have no idea! Lol. I hope you like the chapter and thanks for the review! blondi gurl: glad you like the fic! Thanks for the review! Shellie3: Thanks, Shell! You're the best!
And...because I adore all of my reviewers, I actually wrote up another chapter in less than a month! [Lol. Sad] I hope ya'll like it! Happy Easter!
Also: I'm happy everyone is excited about Tara and Xander seeing each other again! Unfortunately, -hides behind rock- ya'll have to wait a bit more! Hope you like the chapter, though!
Extra special...thanks to Shellie3. She helped me write this chapter. I was running ideas with her and we got onto Lime Twist and wha-la. This chapter appears!
--Into the Fire--
It was dark outside. It was darker inside. If a smarter person than Andrew Wells was in his current position then none of the following events would have occurred. Unfortunately for the Troika, he wasn't a smarter person. This isn't saying that he wasn't smart. In fact, he was quite the contrary of a bumbling idiot. Andrew knew more about magick and technology than was probably good for him. And there lay his fault. The fact that he occasionally let things slip and was a tiny bit afraid of the dark didn't help him one bit.
"Erm...you guys?" a voice said from somewhere in front of his two companions.
The visibly (well, visible when there was actually some light) short boy named Jonathan Levinson shifted his weight onto his other foot and looked unseeingly at the direction of Andrews voice. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by another voice somewhere to the left of him.
"What is it, Andrew?" asked Warren Meers in a clearly exasperated voice.
"Well...I don't really like the dark." Andrew mumbled.
Jonathon snickered. "Is wittle Drew afraid of the dark?"
Andrew glared somewhere at the direction of the other's voice. "Oh shut up, Mr. I-can't-go-anywhere-without-my-stupid-magick-bone!"
"Hey!" Jonathan stepped forward to elbow Andrew but stepped a bit too far left and ran into the wall successfully being cut off from continuing his speaking.
Andrew scoffed. "What are you, blind?"
They all heard Jonathon push himself back up off the ground and brush off some dust. "In case you haven't noticed, it's pitch black in here!"
"Whatever," Andrew rolled his eyes.
Jonathon stared blankly at the spot where he was sure Andrew stood. "You're an idiot, you know that right?"
"Guys-" Warren began.
"No. You're stupid, shorty." Andrew interrupted.
Jonathon stomped his foot. "Hey! *I* was the one that came up with the Buffy doing time over thing!"
"You so did not! It was on that one episode of TNG! And it was also on X-Files at one point!" Andrew exclaimed.
There was silence for a second before Andrew and Jonathon both said softly, "Scully *so* wants me."
Andrew glowered into the darkness. "Nu-uh! She wants *me,* you magick-bone lover!"
"Oh you wish! Please, like-"
"GUYS!" Warren yelled as his patience diminished. "Shut up! We're stuck underneath a castle and you guys are being idiots!"
Jonathon sniffled. "Actually, Andrew was the-"
"Hey, short stuff? Zip it." Warren demanded.
The three of them remained in silence for another couple of minutes before they heard footsteps somewhere on the other side of the room. Torches that hung every two feet on the walls went ablaze and Jonathon jumped slightly patting his head to make sure it hadn't caught fire. Andrew yelped as the black robed figure came towards them.
Lucius took off the Death Eater mask and threw it across the dungeon indifferently. He looked at the three nerds and sneered. "You two are pathetic." He glanced at Warren and but didn't look any more interested.
Andrew shot a look at Jonathon and grinned. "He just sounded like Simon from American Idol right there."
Jonathon nodded enthusiastically. "Did you know that William Hung or whatever has a CD out?"
"You can't be serious!" Andrew made a face. "How did he manage that one?"
Lucius lazily played with his wand and tilted his head ever-so-slightly at the two boys. "I'm afraid if you don't remain silent from now until the time you are out of my sight, I will have to Avada Kedavra you on the spot. I suppose the Dark Lord wouldn't be too happy but at least I wouldn't have to waste my time escorting a group of idiots around my manor."
"Wait. You're gonna Arvada what now?" Andrew asked with wide eyes.
Warren smacked him. "He's going to kill you if you don't shut up."
Lucius smirked. "Well, at least all three of you aren't entirely morons. Follow me."
The blonde man turned on his heels and as he walked the black cloak billowed behind him. Andrew looked on admiringly. "He's evil."
Warren sent him a 'No, duh" look and followed Lucius out the doorway of the dungeon they had been in. Andrew and Jonathon looked at each other than ran after the other two.
***
They finally arrived in another dark room after what seemed to be an hour or two of walking through dark halls.
"It's so dark here. It really gets depressing," Andrew stated, still sounding a little nervous.
"My legs hurt," Jonathon whined.
"That's because they're so short, doofus," Warren snapped.
"You're the doofus!" Jonathon snapped back.
"You're both doofus...i!"" Andrew shouted, unsure of what exactly the plural of "doofus" was.
Suddenly there was a blinding white light, and all three members of the Troika screamed and shielded their eyes with their arms.
"It BURNS!" Andrew exclaimed dramatically.
Lucius dropped his wand back into his robes and looked at them bemusedly. "Honestly," he began, "Do the three of you value your lives at all?"
"Oh! Very much!" Warren answered, sounding a lot like a salesman. "As a matter of fact, our lives are the most important things to us!"
"Well, not the most important, there's also making the Slayer our sex-sla-" Jonathan started saying matter-of-factly.
"Exactly!" Andrew cut in, "Dying is definetly the thing the evil Troika, also known as us, does not want to do...under any circumstances!"
"You could have fooled me." Lucius sneered. He turned around as if to start walking again but stopped and turned back around causing the three Americans to run into him and fall the floor when he muttered a charm and they were thrown away. Lucius glared at them. "I am not a patient man, do not tempt me."
"W-well, sorry. You see-" Warren started.
Lucius waved a perfectly manicured hand and suddenly the trio fell silent. "I do not wish to hear excuses. Very few wizards are given the honor to be on my property and-"
"More like under it, from our point of view." Jonathon muttered and was quickly silenced with a kick from Warren.
"-all muggles that set foot here never leave again...apart from maybe in pieces. Consider yourselves lucky that you're stupidity intrigued the Dark Lord enough to get you some borrowed time. How much longer you have is all dependant on what you have to say and if it is worth hearing. Judging from my current knowledge, I'd say you shouldn't get your hopes up. Luck really isn't on your side."
"Right." Andrew said, "Maturity. Check. We got it!"
"Very well." Lucius hissed. He wasn't the least bit pleased at being interrupted but let it go. After another five minutes of walking, they turned a corner to find another man dressed in black robes. He did not take off his mask but merely tilted his head in question at Lucius, who nodded. The man bowed his head and disappeared down the way they had come. Lucius murmured what Jonathon translated to Latin and the wall literally dissolved into noting.
"Wow." the three nerds exclaimed in awe.
Lucius simply sent one last dark look at them and went into the darkness. The second he stepped into the pitch black hall torches blazed on in a manner not unlike the ones in the dungeon.
The hallway, which Warren noted was carved into stone, suddenly led out into a large library of sorts. The floor's burgundy color blended with the black tapestries on the walls. A spacious desk stood in the middle of the room made of ash wood. Many portraits hung around the room and as soon as the trio entered they started muttering to each other. Lucius motioned for them to walk up to the desk. They followed his unspoken order and the black chair turned around in what Andrew later claimed was a "pure Dr. Evil rip-off."
A hideous man (Was it a man? Jonathon couldn't be too sure. Whatever it was he could feel its power seeping of black magicks.) grinned horribly and looked at Lucius. "These are the three?"
Lucius nodded once. "Yes, my Lord. They were asking about you."
The gruesome face of the man looked back at the Troika. "Sit. Tell me how you have come to be here."
Three chairs appeared behind the three guys and they rapidly took their seats. Andrew looked at the others and then focused his sight on a point directly to the right of something that he assumed was an ear at some point. He took a breath and began.
"My colleagues and I happened to be in London..."
***
"Are you sure this is the right place?" Jonathon asked with a skeptical look.
The Troika stood in front of the exact spot where The Leaky Cauldron was situated. They knew that there was a magickal building somewhere here. The problem, however, was that they couldn't seem to find it. Warren was losing patience. Jonathon wouldn't stop sending him inquiring looks and Andrew...well, Andrew was just off in his own world.
Warren glared at Jonathon before grabbing Andrew's jacket and snapping the other boy out of his daze. "Focus, Wells!"
Andrew tried to smile sheepishly but ended up frowning. "Sorry, Warren. What exactly are we doing?"
"We're looking at a wall." Jonathon stated.
Warren ignored him. "The Leaky Cauldron, remember?"
Andrew blinked. "Yeah, it's right there," he pointed at the corner of a building.
Jonathon and Warren looked mystified. They weren't sure if Andrew could see the door and they couldn't for some odd reason or if he was simply trying to act smart and show-off that he knew something and they didn't. Jonathon decided to ask. "You...see it?"
Andrew nodded slowly giving the short by an odd look. "Yeah. It's right there! On the corner, kinda shabby?"
The other two looked at where Andrew continued to point and then back at him utterly baffled. Warren wasn't amused at all.
"Show it to us," he demanded.
It was Andrew's turn to look baffled. "What are you guys, blind?"
Jonathon nodded. "Possibly. Just go show us the door."
Andrew shrugged but walked to the corner, and suddenly a door appeared. Warren grabbed Jonathon and pushed him through the doorway before following. Andrew went in last after throwing a gum wrapper into the nearest trash bin.
They walked into the scruffy bar and sat down at a table. Warren placed a piece of paper on the table and pointed to it. "Okay, here's the deal. We need to get into Diagon Alley, an all wizard community. To do that- you need a wand. None of us have wands so we'll have to ask someone. As you can imagine, it'll be suspicious but we're American tourists and we locked ourselves out of the flat that we were renting and the owner won't be able to help us until later in the evening. That's the story. Stick to the story. Alright?"
Andrew and Jonathon nodded.
"What are we looking for, though?" asked Andrew rather suddenly.
Warren let out an exaggerated sigh. "To find out about this Lord Voldemort guy and where he is."
Andrew nodded again. "Okay!"
A couple of minutes later they were walking down Diagon Alley with no problems. They turned into Knockturn Alley without noticing and just continued on their strolls past shops and people with carrying creepy levels. Andrew was humming but Warren wasn't too annoyed quite yet. He was just happy the first part of his plan had worked out. The second part would work out just as smoothly. He was sure of that. He was also quite wrong.
"Okay, we're going to-" Andrew cut off Warren.
"What's that?" he asked.
Jonathon looked around. An enormous building stood in between two smaller and less interesting ones. The blinking magickal letters that floated in front of the building read, "Indulge."
The short boy shrugged. "Looks like a gift shop. Can we go in it?"
Without waiting for an answer Andrew and Jonathon raced into the building. Warren followed with an annoyed look. He found them at the entrance and pushed them forward wit ha glare. "What, you guys can't walk or..." he trailed off.
Andrew and Jonathon had stopped at the doors because what they saw was nothing to do with any gift shops. No lollipops and candies lay in barrels on a wall. There weren't even shirts or pants that hung on racks neatly. Hell, there weren't any shirts or pants at all.
"This is better than free cable porn." Andrew whispered in awe as a good dozen girls donning nothing except for a hair ribbon walked around from able to table. Occasionally a wizard would stand up fro ma table and take one of the naked girls from the parlor into a hallway, which lead who-knows-where. The missing girl, however, was not missed for long as another one got into her place.
The Troika was in shock. "Indulge" was definetly not your average gift shop.
"Come on." Warren murmured and led them to a table with three wizards. "Hello."
The wizards surveyed them for a long while before motioning for them to sit down. The black haired man raised an eyebrow. "Americans. What brings you here?"
Warren shrugged nonchalantly. "We're on vacation."
"William Nott." The man nodded and pointed to his two companions. "The brown haired one is McNair and the other one is Goyle."
"Warren Meers." Warren replied just as formally. "The blonde is Andrew and the short one is Jonathon."
William studied Andrew for a couple of moments. "Have we met?"
Andrew scrunched his head and after a moment frowned. "No, I don't think so."
Nott shrugged and looked over his shoulder as a door slammed violently. Lucius Malfoy strode out of the many rooms and up to Nott with a dangerous look. "You were wrong, William."
William shrugged. "Sorry, Malfoy. I told you it wasn't a hundred percent accurate. Anyway, sit down. Gentlemen, this is Lucius Malfoy. He owns 'Indulge.' Lucius, these three are Warren, Andrew and Jonathon. They're American tourists come to...ah, enjoy the sights."
Jonathon masked a small look of distaste at the innuendo. He just wanted to get out of here. "Erm...do any of you know about Voldywat?"
McNair almost choked on his glass of Firewhiskey. "Pardon?"
"Voldywat. Any of you know him?" Jonathon repeated.
"Voldywat?" Lucius mocked. "Nott, these are muggles."
"We're not." Warren corrected. "My friend here has memory lapse. He's not good with remembering anything. He meant Voldemort. Do you guys by any chance know where we could find him?"
McNair, Lucius and William exchanged looks. After a moment William spoke up. "I cannot imagine the Prince of Darkness simply giving out his address. Besides, I'm quite sure only Death Eaters would know. Why are you three so intrigued with finding the Dark Lord?"
"Actually, the Prince of Darkness is Dracula." Andrew stated.
Warren shot him a loop. "Well, we wanna talk to the guy. I mean, he's pretty evil and all so-"
"Where do you find these idiots?!" Lucius flicked his want and the trio automatically slumped in their seats. He turned a glare at the other three men.
***
"...and that's it. I mean, then of course we woke up in the lovely really dark dungeon and- it was nice dungeon, but-"
Voldemort raised a hand. "You went in public asking for me, what is your business?"
Warren sat up straighter and shot a look at Andrew that clearly said he was talking now. "We want to offer you a proposition."
"You have nothing I could want."
The dark haired boy smirked. "I know that you know the magickal properties of Slayer's blood."
"You silly boy. Slayers are nothing more than a myth. You cannot trick Lord Voldemort with lies."
"I'm not lying, though. There are two slayers. I can get you both."
Voldemort leaned back on his chair. "Have you proof of this?"
Warren took a pendant out of his pocket onto the table. "That belongs to one of the Slayers. Track it, it'll show you her magickal relations."
The pendant glowed a brilliant red then suddenly stopped. Voldemort looked at Warren. "What is it that you wish for in return?"
---
Well? Review! I'm actually nervous about this chapter 'cos I liked it meaning...you guys probably won't, Lol. Let me know!